looking for advice from some1 who's been or going to culinary school

I'd really appreciate it if some of you out there could share some of your experiences with me about a particular culinary school as I'm currently looking for one to attend next year after I graduate high school. Thank you for your time and help!! ---april---:talk:

I loved my school. Nick Malgeri is the dean of pastry. Jim Peterson (of cookbook fame) was an instructor and Sarah Moulton (of Food TV fame) was also an instructor there. The teacher I loved the best was Ruth Van Waerbeek who wrote Everybody Eats Well in Belgium . I was lucky enough to meet Peter Kump during my education. He was a wonderful man.

Some of the things you have to consider:

* Do you want to specialize in something? Baking? Pastry? French Cooking? It's good to know this before you start spending money learning something you're only borderline interested in.

* Can you consider a school that's not in your backyard right now? Will you travel? This opens the field for you.

* Do you want to do your education full or part time? Are you willing to live on campus? Some top-shelf schools have accommodations.

* Do you aspire to cook in someone else's kitchen or have your own restaurant? Keep in mind, having your own restaurant takes a big bite out of your actual "stove time" and involves a great deal more bookkeeping than people let on. Cheffing at someone else's restaurant might be the way to go for someone who truly loves to cook and wants to be creative, but doesn't like accounting.

If you haven't been to our main site www.cheftalk.com I would highly recommend stopping by and checking into the Day in the Life of an American Culinary Student which is a weekly journal by Logan Worley who is currently attending culinary school. It is very interesting and fun to read each week what he has to deal with.